Melville is a city in the east-central portion of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada. The city is about northeast of the provincial capital of Regina and southwest of

Yorkton Yorkton is a city located in south-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is about north-west of Winnipeg and south-east of Saskatoon and is the sixth largest city in the province. Yorkton was founded in 1882 and incorporated as a city in 1928. ...

. Melville is bordered by the rural municipalities of Cana No. 214 and Stanley No. 215. Its population at the 2016 census was 4,562, making it Saskatchewan's smallest city. It is also home of hockey's Melville Millionaires, who compete in the

Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. Open to North American-born players 20 years o ...

, and baseball's Melville Millionaires, who competed in the Western Canadian Baseball League until 2019.

History

According to ''What's in a Name?: The Story Behind Saskatchewan Places and Names'' by E. T. Russell, and ''People Places: Contemporary Saskatchewan Place Names'' by Bill Barry, the city was named for Charles Melville Hays, who at the time of the settlement's initial construction was the president of the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

and Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. Hays was on board the RMS ''Titanic'' when it sank; he did not make it off the ship. Pearl Park was the area's first post office established in 1905 near Pearl Creek, a tributary of the

Qu'Appelle River The Qu'Appelle River is a river in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba that flows east from Lake Diefenbaker in south-western Saskatchewan to join the Assiniboine River in Manitoba, just s ...

. Melville was declared a city by the province in 1960. File:Panoramic Views of Melville, Saskatchewan (HS85-10-27823).jpg, Panoramic views of Melville, 1913 File:Grain Elevator Saskatchewan Royal Visit 1939.jpg,

Grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

in Melville decorated for the visit of

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

and Queen Elizabeth in May, 1939 File:Melville, SK VIA Station 1991.jpg,

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

railway station in Melville, 1991

Government

The mayor of Melville is Joe Kirwan. Provincially, Melville is within the constituency of Melville-Saltcoats. It is currently represented by

Saskatchewan Party The Saskatchewan Party (SP or Sask Party) is a conservative political party in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The party was founded in 1997 by a coalition of former provincial Progressive Conservative ...

MLA Warren Kaeding. Melville is represented in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

by the MP of the

Yorkton—Melville Yorkton—Melville is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. Geography The district is in east-central Saskatchewan. History ...

riding, currently Cathay Wagantall of the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Melville had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Infrastructure

Melville's namesake was the president of the

and Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, Charles Melville Hays. Since Melville's founding in 1908, it has served as a nexus for railroad activity, currently including that of

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

and

, the latter for which Melville effectively serves as the main rail-to-bus connection to Regina for its passengers. Today, the transcontinental ''

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

'' train, operated by national passenger rail carrier

, serves the Melville railway station twice per week eastbound and twice westbound. In 2002 the St. Peter's Hospital was constructed. St. Peter's was founded in 1940 as a municipal hospital by the Sisters of St. Martha, based in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Next to St. Peter's is the St. Paul Lutheran Home. The Melville Railway Museum (c. 1911) is a Municipal Heritage Property on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. The Melville Heritage Museum is in the original Luther College (formerly Luther Academy) building, built in 1913. The Luther Academy moved to Regina in 1926. After a stint as St. Paul's Home for the Aged and Orphans, the building was declared a heritage site, opening as a museum in the early 1980s. Melville's connections by road to other communities include Highways 10, 15, and 47. The closest major centre to Melville is the city of

, to the northeast. Melville Municipal Airport is located east of the city. File:Melville Airport.JPG, Melville airport File:Saskatchewan Highway 15 in Melville.jpg, Saskatchewan Highway 15 marker, Melville File:Melville VIA Rail January 2012.JPG,

railway station in Melville

Education

Melville is served by public and Catholic schools: École St. Henry's Junior Elementary School, and St. Henry's Sr School are both part of the Christ the Teacher Catholic School Division Davison School, as part of the Good Spirit School Division offers pre-kindergarten to grade 6 education. The Melville Comprehensive School, a part of the Good Spirit School Division provides secondary education. Parkland Regional College provides post secondary technical training and operates a campus out of the Melville Comprehensive High School building. Parkland College operates its NFPA fire training field near the Melville Municipal Airport.

Sports

Melville is home to the

Melville Millionaires The Melville Millionaires are a Canadian junior "A" ice hockey based in Melville, Saskatchewan. They are members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). They play their home games in the CN Community Centre which has a seating capa ...

of the

, as well as the Melville Millionaires of the Western Canadian Baseball League, who last played in the 2019 season. In 2011 the Melville Communiplex opened. The federal and provincial governments covered $20 million of the construction costs of the $24.5 million facility. The Communiplex has an NHL size ice surface and seating capacity for 1,500 people, a walking track, fitness and cardio care facilities, and a convention centre. It replaces the existing 60-year-old Melville Stadium, home to the Melville Millionaires. The city also has an 18-hole golf course.

Media

;Newspaper *''The Melville Advance'', a weekly paper. ;Radio Television * CICC-TV Yorkton channel 10, CTV, SNN

Melville Regional Park

Originally founded in the 1960s on "reclaimed wasteland", Melville Regional Park () has amenities such as a campground, golf course, outdoor swimming pool, ball diamonds, and the Melville Railway Museum. The campground has 126 campsites, free firewood, electrical and water hookups, sewer disposal, and modern washrooms and showers. Other amenities at the

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distr ...

include cross-country ski trails, horseshoe pits, disk golf, an off-leash dog park, and hiking trails. The golf course, Melville Golf and Country Club, is an 18-hole, par 70 course. It has a total of 6,055 yards, a licensed clubhouse, and a pro shop. The course is on the north side of Melville and is set on rolling hills with Crescent Creek running through it.

Popular culture

In the film ''

Hannibal Rising ''Hannibal Rising'' is a psychological horror novel by American author Thomas Harris, published in 2006. It is the fourth and final novel in Harris's series and the first novel in chronological order of the novels of Thomas Harris centered aro ...

'' (2007), title character Hannibal Lecter shows up in the "hamlet of Melville" in the final scene. However the town depicted is surrounded by forest and is referred to as "near Saskatoon".

Notable people

* George Abel – Olympic gold medalist * Sid Abel – Hockey Hall of Famer * Phil Besler – Former NHL player for the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

* Evan Carlson – Former Saskatchewan MLA * Tim Cheveldae – NHL goaltender for the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

, and

* Jimmy Franks – Former NHL goaltender for the

* Shaun Heshka – NHL player for the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

* Sol Kanee – President of the

Canadian Jewish Congress The Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC; ; ; ) was, for more than ninety years, the main advocacy group for the Jewish community in Canada. Regarded by many as the "Parliament of Canadian Jewry," the Congress was at the forefront of the struggle for Hum ...

from 1971 to 1974 * Todd McLellan – Head coach of the NHL's

* Mike Morin – Former professional ice hockey player * Alex Motter – Former NHL player for the

* Terry Puhl – Retired MLB player for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

* Roger Reinson – Retired CFL player, 3-time Grey Cup Champion * Damon Severson – NHL player for the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern C ...

Jarret Stoll Jarret Lee Stoll (born June 24, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild. Stoll is a two-time Stanle ...

– Former NHL player for the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

and

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

* Arch Wilder – Former NHL player for the

Mike Woloschuk Mike Woloschuk (born May 9, 1970, in Melville, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian-Australian curler. At the international level, he represented Australia at two World Curling Championships and is a two-time curler (, ). Personal life As of t ...

– Former curler at men's world championships and two-time gold medalist at

Pacific-Asia Curling Championships The Pacific-Asia Curling Championships (formerly the Pacific Curling Championships) were an annual curling tournament, held every year in November or December. The event served as a qualified for the World Curling Championships. The Pacific-Asia ...

* Lyall Woznesensky – Former CFL defensive lineman

Gallery

File:Melville station derelict.JPG, Historic 1908

station File:Grain Elevator Melville (8060805828).jpg, Grain elevator File:Pontiac 1952 (8032915801).jpg

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Saskatchewan Populated places established in 1908 1908 establishments in Saskatchewan Division No. 5, Saskatchewan